New Beginning
by Macahol84
Summary: To a new beginning. It's her first day at the 12th, her first day as an official detective. How will she do?
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: First and foremost this story is set in the future by about 5 years. Other than that, enjoy!_

* * *

It was a brisk fall day as she made her way into the 12th precinct. Walking across the lobby she took a deep breath waiting for the elevator. It was her first day and she was determined not to let her nervousness show. This was the day she had been waiting for. The day she had been training four years for. The day she would join the NYPD as an official detective. The elevator ding broke her thoughts as she entered the bull pen of the 4th floor.

There were other detectives moving about the room, some were carrying folders, some were at their desks doing paperwork or researching a lead on their computers. A man stood outside an office looking around. He wore a nice suit. She estimated him to be in his early fifties. He glanced around the bull pen before his gaze landed on her. She watched intently as he studied her trying to remember if she was apart of his team or not. Taking a deep breath she met him half way across the bull pen.

"Good afternoon sir," She stated. "I am Dayna Tyler."

"Ah you're the new recruit," His face broke out into a smile. "I'm Captain Montgomery," He held out his hand. Dayna quickly extended her own hand. "I've been expecting you. Did you make it here ok?"

Dayna laughed silently to herself. That question was never expected to be answered honestly. "Yes I did sir. Thank you sir."

"Very good. Let me show you to your desk," Captain Montgomery nodded behind him indicating he wanted Dayna to follow him. As they passed by some other desks, Dayna noticed they were paired off in twos. "Each detective is assigned a partner. We keep the partners desks together to minimize unneeded traveling." Dayna nodded as she glanced at the desks. Detective Beckett's was positioned across from a Detective J. Esposito.

"Your desk will be here." Captain Montgomery pointed to a desk across from an unoccupied desk. Scanning the piles of paperwork, Dayna noticed a name plate half buried under the papers. She can make out 'Detecti-' before the rest of the words are cut off.

"I'll leave you to get set up," Captain Montgomery half smiles before turning and heading back into his office. Dayna drops her bag and reaches for the blocked name plate ready to lift it up only discover her new partner's name has been screwed down to the desk. Confused she pushes some of the papers out of the way and reads 'Detective K. Ryan'. Dayna tries to imagine what her new partner will be like if they are paranoid enough to screw their name plate down.

"Something interesting detective?" A male voice interrupted her thoughts making her jump slightly. The chuckle quickly informed her this new person is not an immediate threat. Dayna turned around slowly and came face to face with dazzling blue eyes.

"I'm Detective Kevin Ryan," He smiled extending his hand. "And you are?"

"Dayna. Dayna Tyler," She said returning his hand shake.

Ryan smiled and looked around the bull pen. "How about I show you around before we get started?" Dayna nodded before following him. Their first stop was a room with many doors.

"This is the break room. There is plenty of space if you want to eat in here. You'll notice many people, from all floors, come through here to use our espresso machine. You are welcome to use the machine, just make sure you clean up after yourself." Dayna nodded as she glanced around the room. "You can put something in the fridge if you would like. Just be remember that if your name isn't on it, it will be considered up for grabs."

Walking down the hallway, Ryan pointed to a room. "That's the conference room. We only have that one. If you need to consult with someone about a case and this room is being used, you can always use the break room. The other detectives will understand."

"Captain!" A voice called out as footsteps quickly approached. Dayna looked around Ryan to see a woman approaching Captain Montgomery's office. She appeared to be in her late thirties and very beautiful for a detective standards. Dayna wonders if this was her first profession choice. She watches as the detective discusses something with the captain. There is something familiar about her but Dayna can't put her finger on it.

"That's Detective Beckett. She's one of the Captain's favorites. I'll introduce you to her when she comes out," Ryan said after noticing Dayna observing his colleague. Hearing high heels click against the hard wood floor, both detectives looked towards the Captain's office to see Detective Beckett exiting the room.

"Beckett," Ryan called out. "I'd like you to meet Detective Dayna Tyler."

Beckett smiled approached them. Something told Dayna the other woman was very pleased with the results of her meeting with the Captain. "It's nice to meet you Dayna. If you need any help, let me know. Welcome to the family."

"Thank you ma'am." Dayna watched as Kate made a face.

"You don't have to ma'am me. I'm not that old yet." Dayna nodded and watch the other detective walk away.

"Let's continue our tour," Ryan gestured back to the bull pen.

"May I ask you something?" Dayna said pausing in the hallway.

Ryan turned to look at her and shrugged. "Shoot figuratively of course."

"Why is your name tag screwed to your desk?" Ryan smiled as he started walking again explaining how his first year was. How the other detective initiated him and that included hiding his name plate. Dayna held back her laughter but her smile gave her away.

"Don't laugh Detective," Ryan warned. "You'll be their new target."

Dayna shrugged as she walked to her new desk. "I'm sure what these detective do, won't be anything compared to what was done when I was a kid."

"Older brothers?" Ryan asked sitting down at his desk.

Dayna bit her lip as she opened her desk's bottom draw. "Something like that."


	2. Chapter 2

"Something like that?" Ryan whispered to himself when it became clear that Dayna wasn't going to talk about it. He watched as she opened the bottom drawer of her desk.

'Was she?' Ryan asked himself as he watched Dayna. She was chuckling to herself as she gently picked up the tarantula from the draw. Ryan watched in amazement as Dayna moved the spider to another empty draw and continued going through her new desk.

"Yo, did she find it?" Esposito whispered as Ryan entered the break room.

"Yeah," Ryan said slowly as he made his way to the espresso machine.

"And?"

"And nothing. She just moved it to another draw," Ryan shrugged. "I don't think she's going to fall for any of the usual tricks. Maybe we should see how good she is in hand to hand. You know to better prepare ourselves for future pranks in case she comes after us."

"Yeah," Esposito wagged his finger towards Ryan. "Maybe Beckett will do it."

"Maybe Beckett will do what?" Kate asked as she walked into the break room. The two detectives smiled as she walked into the room.

"Spar against Dayna so we can see how tough she is," Javier said as he lifted his mug to his lips.

"Definitely not," Beckett spat out shaking her head.

"Aw why not?" Esposito questioned after he swallowed.

"Well for starters, I don't spar for the fun of it anymore. Why don't you do it?" Esposito's eyes lit up. He hadn't considered that. The boys began mapping out a plan as Lanie walked up.

"What are they talking about?" Lanie whispered to Kate.

"Hey doctor, what are you doing up here?" Kate smiled turning to her best friend.

"I tried calling your desk to give you the results of that toxic you had me rush but I couldn't reach you. Figured I could come up and tell you."

"And see Javi?" Kate gently teased.

"Hey don't be jealous because my man works with me," Lanie stuck her tongue out quickly. "So what were they talking about?"

"We need someone to spar against the new girl so we can see how tough she is," Ryan quickly volunteered.

"We asked Beckett to do it but she said no," Esposito trailed off.

"So maybe Esposito could do it?" Ryan smiled asking Lanie for permission.

"Let me get this straight, you want to use my fiancé as a punching bag to see how the new girl measures up?" Lanie questioned looking between the two detectives. Ryan and Esposito silently glanced between each other before nodding slowly. Each not sure of the answer Lanie was looking for. "Alright but don't expect me to bandage you up later."

Two cheers of excitement were heard in the break room but no one else on the 4th floor paid any attention to them. Ryan walked out of the break room heading straight for his desk. Dayna was still filling out paperwork when he arrived.

"Would you be interested in seeing the rest of the precinct?" Ryan asked as he sat down. Dayna looked up at him slowly not sure what he meant.

"Like what?"

"Like the morgue, the evidence room, the gym," He let his voice trail off as he silently gauged her reactions. The gym definitely seemed to grab her attention.

"Sure," Dayna nodded before moving her paperwork to an empty draw and locking it shut. Ryan smiled and held his arm out towards the elevators so they could being the rest of their tour. Catching Esposito's eye, he nodded towards Dayna's desk giving his former partner a questioning glance. Esposito didn't need words to know what his next move was.

Ryan's part two tour didn't last long. Perlmutter was in the morgue while Lanie went took the afternoon off so their visit wasn't exactly welcomed. Not that Ryan wanted Perlmutter to welcome Dayna. There was no need in her thinking the ME was a saint only to find out later it was a lie. The evidence room was uneventful and didn't require more explanation than 'This is where we put the unclaimed items that were once evidence'.

After they toured the gym Ryan asked, "So what do you think?"

"It's decent. It's nice to have a gym in the precinct though," Dayna shrugged. "Now that we're done with all the tours, can you tell me about your old partner?"

"Esposito," Ryan's eyes brightened at his colleague's name. "He was an amazing partner. We did everything together."

"What happened?" Dayna asked gently.

"We had gotten too close according to IA standards."

"So they split you up and reassigned you," Dayna filled in the blanks. At Ryan's nod she continued, "Where is he now?"

"He works with Beckett. We're still on the same team, just now he rolls out with her," Ryan glanced around the hallway outside the precinct gym. "I'm going to head back upstairs. Are you going to come too?"

"I think I'll stay back. I want to explore the gym a little more on a personal level," Dayna smiled slightly as she nodded her head towards the double doors behind her.

"Alright, see ya later," Ryan nodded and moved to the elevators as Dayna reentered the gym. The elevator ride up went by quickly and soon Ryan was bursting into the bull pen.

"Dude, what'd ya find?" Ryan asked in a rushed tone as he walked up to Esposito's desk.

"She locked every draw," Esposito huffed. "Except the one with the spider." He shivered at the thought of the animal. "Where is she anyway?"

"Down in the gym," Ryan shrugged. "She said she was going to check it out on a 'more personal level' what ever that means."

Esposito shook his head as he stood up. "Bro, how is Jenny still with you?"


	3. Chapter 3

Esposito shook his head as he stood up. Sometimes he missed the days when he had Ryan as his partner but for now he had a new team member to investigate. Sure she had to clear security and psych to even make it to the twelfth but his team had become his family and it was part of his job to look out for them. So he made his way to the elevator and headed down to the gym. As the doors slid open, he could hear sounds of the punching bag swinging from the ceiling.

After a quick stop in the locker room he made his was to the chin dip. He could easily watch Dayna from where he was. Esposito watched as she focused on the punching bag muttering to herself as she threw a series of right and left jabs at the bag. With the bag swinging slightly from her punches, she reared it with a spinning back kick. This sent the bag swinging out of control. Dayna stood and watched as she calmed her breathing. She was used to having to wait for the punching bag to slow after taking a few rounds from her. She wasn't used to someone holding it still encouraging her to continue her assault on it.

"C'mon, give it all you've got," Esposito stated as he held the bag. Dayna watched him carefully before she started to walk away. "Where are you going?"

"I-I think I'm done," Dayna made it to the edge of the mat before she heard Esposito.

"It's okay if you're scared."

She whipped around and glared at him. "What?"

"Scared," Esposito said smugly stepping around the punching bag. "You know, new girl at the precinct doesn't want to make waves by taking on one of the senior detectives."

Dayna scoffed as she picked up her towel. "That's not it at all."

"Afraid that if she harms him even a little bit that it could result in traffic duty."

"Oh you're on," Dayna threw her towel down to the edge of the mat again. "What are we playing 'til?"

"Mercy?" Esposito challenged and was met with a raised eyebrow.

"Got a safe word?"

"Apples." Dayna nodded and lunged towards him with a series of jabs aimed for his torso. Esposito chuckled and held his stance. "Is that the best you've got?"

Dayna rolled her eyes. "Not at all Detective." Dayna braced herself as Esposito prepared to side kick her torso. She waited until his leg was fully extended before she grabbed his ankle and spun around hitting him with a kick of her own effectively knocking him backwards.

"What about you? Are you afraid to hit a girl?" Esposito knew she was baiting him but couldn't resist in a swift movement he lashed out with a quick jab to her jaw followed by a side kick to her liver. The series of moves had Dayna shaking her head trying to catch regulate her breathing.

Starring at the man chuckling in front of her, Dayna was transported to another time in another place. Before Esposito knew what to do she was attacking him with a mix of jabs and kicks all aimed for his torso and head. In a moment of stillness, he had time to look where she went before he saw her slip in front of him. He knew it was coming but couldn't stop it. Dayna grabbed his right arm and flipped him over her shoulder resulting in him on his back against the ground gasping to regulate his breathing again.

Esposito mumbled something but Dayna didn't hear him. Leaning in closer she heard him mumble apples.

* * *

The elevator doors slid open to reveal Esposito limping into the bull pen with Dayna right behind him. Ryan jumped up from his desk and rushed to his former partner.

"Dude what happened?"

"She kicked my ass," Esposito huffed as he gently lowered himself into his chair wincing at the pain it caused.

"You did this?" Kate asked as she studied her partner. Dayna shrugged as she sat in her chair away from everyone else. It was hard to gauge the woman before her. She wasn't letting any emotion slip onto her face as she stared Dayna down.

"Yes?" Dayna held her breath.

Kate nodded slowly as she studied Esposito again. Dayna could tell she was processing something out and knew exactly what to do, lay low. Focusing back on her desk, she unlocked the top drawer and pulled out her paperwork. She had a few forms left before she was professionally owned by the city.

"Tyler. Break room. Now," Kate barked interrupting her thoughts. Sliding the papers back into her desk and locking it quickly, she followed the other woman across the bull pen and into the break room. Once inside she wasn't surprised when Kate closed the door behind them leaving just the two of them alone. Dayna couldn't remember the amount of times she had been in situations like this. Getting provoked into fighting then being reprimanded for it later by the authority figure in charge. At least it wasn't the captain reprimanding her. That would just be the icing on this first day.

Kate spun to look at Dayna with her hands folded across her chest. Her expression still unreadable. Dayna decided she could remain quiet or she could start explaining. She chose the latter. "Kate, I just want you to know-"

Just then the door to the break room swung open with focus resulting in a loud crash.


	4. Chapter 4

Dayna spun to look at the doorway and was shocked to see a petite African American woman standing in there. She couldn't have possibly kicked the door open with that much force, could she? Dayna did a quick once over on the new woman's appearance ending with the glare on her face. This was not going to be pretty.

Stepping into the room, Lanie watched as Dayna took a few steps backwards. Closing the door behind her, she waited a minute before she spoke hoping her presence was silently speaking for itself.

"Did you do that to Esposito?" Lanie barked without emotion etched in her complexion.

Dayna stopped walking backwards and assessed the situation. She was definitely out numbered but she had a feeling that she could take down Kate. This new visitor would probably be harder. Shorter women tended to have a quicker recovery.

'You can't afford to mess this up,' The voice in Dayna's head argued back. 'This isn't the same place. Just own up to it and go from there.' Dayna took a deep breath and a moment to gather her thoughts.

"Yes."

"Did you have any help?" Lanie took a step closer.

Dayna shook her head and shifted her stance so she could keep an eye on both women. The two women looked at each other and seemed to be having a silent conversation at rapid speed. Dayna watched in amazement at the closeness they radiated. She had always wished for a friendship like that but certain circumstances didn't allow it. Suddenly Lanie turned to her with a smile. "Way to go hon."

Dayna looked between the two women confused. "Excuse me?"

"You took down my boy by yourself!" Lanie exclaimed.

"What Lanie is trying to say," Kate rolled her eyes, "is that'll definitely teach him a lesson."

"So you guys aren't mad at me? I'm not going to be reprimanded?"

Lanie and Kate looked at each other and laughed. "Of course not! After what those two boneheads pulled this morning, I'm proud that you beat Javi's butt."

"Yeah," Kate agreed. "I hope they didn't scare you too much with the spider. They kept mentioning some sort of hazing for days but never told us exactly what they had planned."

"That was a hazing?" Dayna scoffed. "That was almost nothing."

Lanie laughed. "Yeah, they've been lacking in the creative department the last few years."

"Just be glad that Rick didn't help them," Kate warned. "I swear he has an unlimited imagination. You wouldn't believe what he had done when I got home the other day."

"Oh you mean on Tuesday?" Lanie asked as Kate nodded before she proceeded to explain how Rick transformed their apartment into an indoor playground. Dayna just listened to the women talk about the men in their lives.

Conversations like this always made her slightly glad that she didn't have to worry about a man in her life. She just had Dave. Dave was her go-to guy with no strings attached. They'd meet up at a hotel via text and barely spoke during their encounter. In the end, they parted ways never bothering to look back. Quick, clean, and simple just the way she liked it.

"What about you Dayna? Are you seeing anyone?" Lanie asked.

"Nope, I'm single," Dayna just shook her head watching in amazement as Lanie's eyes widened.

"Lanie, down," Kate ordered. "Dayna's probably happy being single."

"I am," Dayna quickly followed the statement relief spreading through her as Lanie returned to normal. "And I should really get back to work. I have to finish my paperwork." Dayna gave each woman a slight nod before leaving the break room.

Lanie and Kate watched as she returned to her desk. Lanie was the first to break the silence. "She reminds me a little of you."

"Why because she's getting her job done?" Kate scoffed.

"That and she didn't take any of the guy's shit. She'll fit in here," Lanie smiled.

* * *

A/N: I want to say thank you to beckettlovescastle for reminding me about this story. I literally 85% of this chapter written but had forgotten about it.


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